1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display scrolling method and a display program.
2. Description of the Related Art
As personal computers have become popular, opportunities of managing or storing various kinds of data files, for example, a data file of images captured using a digital camera, a data file of downloaded pieces of music or movie, and a data file of a blog, have increased.
As a method of selecting a target data file from among stored data files, a method of using size-reduced thumbnail images (hereinafter, referred to simply as “thumbnails”) is known. That is, for example, in the case of a data file of images captured using a digital camera, thumbnails of images are created, and these thumbnails are displayed in a list. Then, if the thumbnail of the target image is found, the thumbnail is clicked. Then, the data file of the target image is selected, and the image is displayed at its original size and state on a display.
In the case of pieces of music, thumbnails of jacket images of pieces of music are displayed in a list. Then, when one of the thumbnails is clicked, the data file of the corresponding piece of music is selected, and the reproduction of the piece of music is started.
However, as the number of data files (the number of files) increases, the number of thumbnails is also increased in proportion. Therefore, there is a need for a method of displaying the thumbnails. Accordingly, as display methods, the following methods have been considered:    (1) A method in which thumbnails are displayed chronologically, and the resolution (scale) of a time axis is made variable.    (2) A method in which thumbnails are displayed in two time axes having different resolutions.
In the method (1), the time-related resolution (time interval) of thumbnails is changed to, for example, day, month, or year by reducing the number of thumbnails to be displayed similarly to the case in which, for example, when the scale of a map is changed when the map is to be displayed, the entirety is displayed or a part thereof is enlarged and displayed.
According to the method (1), by changing the resolution of the time axis as desired, it is possible to view the entirety at a glance or to view areas of particular interest in detail.
On the other hand, the method (2) is, for example, a method shown in FIG. 9. That is, FIG. 9 shows a case in which data files of pieces of music and the thumbnails thereof are managed using a personal computer. A reference numeral 10 denotes a display screen (display area) of a display of the personal computer. On the display screen 10, windows 11A and 11B having a horizontally long rectangular shape are displayed in two areas in the vertical direction.
In the window 11A of the upper area, thumbnails 12A of jacket images of pieces of music are displayed chronologically by year. That is, the thumbnails 12A are thumbnails of the jacket images of the best selling pieces of music among the pieces of music that were sold in corresponding years, and the thumbnails are displayed in the window 11A in such a manner as to be arranged in one horizontal line in chronological order of year in which they were sold. Above each of the thumbnails 12A, the “year” in which the piece of music corresponding to the thumbnail 12A was sold is displayed using a numeral 13A. Furthermore, in the lower area of the window 11A, a scroll bar 14A is displayed, and on both the left and right sides, scroll buttons 15A are displayed.
Similarly, in the window 11B of the lower area, thumbnails 12B of jacket images of pieces of music are displayed chronologically by month. In this case, the thumbnails 12B are thumbnails of the jacket images of the best selling pieces of music among the pieces of music sold in corresponding months, and these thumbnails are displayed in the window 11B in such a manner as to be arranged in one horizontal line in chronological order of month in which they were sold. The thumbnails 12B for corresponding months continue to the following year. That is, a thumbnail of December in a certain year is to the left of the thumbnail of January of the next year. In other words, a thumbnail of January of the next year is to the right of a thumbnail of December of the previous year.
Above each of the thumbnails 12B, “year month” in which the piece of music of the thumbnail 12B was sold is displayed using a numeral 13B. Furthermore, in the lower area of the window 11B, a scroll bar 14B is displayed, and scroll buttons 15B are displayed on both the right and left sides.
When the scroll bar 14A is dragged (moved) using a mouse (not shown) to the left or to the right, or when one of the scroll buttons 15A is depressed, the thumbnails 12A for corresponding years are continuously moved to the left or to the right. Therefore, when the scroll bar 14A or the scroll button 15A is operated, it is possible to display the thumbnail 12A of any year in the window 11A.
Similarly, when the scroll bar 14B or the scroll button 15B is operated, the thumbnails 12B for corresponding months are continuously moved to the left or to the right, so that the thumbnail 12B of any month can be displayed in the window 11B.
However, in this case, when the thumbnails 12A or 12B are moved by operating the scroll bars 14A and 14B or the scroll buttons 15A and 15B in the manner described above, as is also shown in FIG. 11, it is assumed that the thumbnails 12A and the thumbnails 12B are moved in a linearly synchronous manner.
That is, as is also shown in FIG. 10, when the thumbnails 12A for corresponding years are continuously moved by operating the upper scroll bar 14A or the upper scroll button 15A, the thumbnails 12B for corresponding months are continuously moved in a linearly synchronous manner with the movement of the upper scroll bar 14A or the upper scroll button 15A. The movement of the thumbnails 12B is in the same direction as that of the thumbnails 12A and is set at a scrolling rate 12 times that of the thumbnails 12A.
Conversely, when the thumbnails 12B for corresponding months are continuously moved by operating the lower scroll bar 14B or the lower scroll button 15B, the thumbnails 12A for corresponding years are linearly and continuously moved in a synchronous manner with the movement of the lower scroll bar 14B or the lower scroll button 15B. The movement of the thumbnails 12A is in the same direction as that of the thumbnails 12B and is set at a scrolling rate 1/12 that of the thumbnails 12B.
That is, as is also shown in FIG. 11, the thumbnails 12A and the thumbnails 12B have different resolutions of a time axis, but move at the same speed with respect to time. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, when the thumbnail 12B of June 1999 is positioned in the center of the window 11B, the thumbnail 12A of 1999 is positioned slightly to the left of the center of the window 11A. That is, when the thumbnails 12A and 12B are to be displayed, synchronization is achieved so that a phase difference does not occur between the display position of the thumbnail 12A and the display position of the thumbnail 12B.
In the method (2), since the thumbnails 12A and 12B are displayed simultaneously arranged in the two time axes having different resolutions, viewing of the entirety at a glance and detailed comparison of information are easy. Furthermore, when one of the windows 11A and 11B is scrolled, the other is scrolled in a synchronous manner. Therefore, there is no need to scroll each of the two windows 11A and 11B individually, and operation time and effort can be reduced. Furthermore, if the resolutions of the time axes of the windows 12A and 12B are made equal to each other and are not synchronously moved, it is possible to compare the thumbnails 12A and 12B with each other.
As a reference document of the related art, for example, there is Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-75473.